The Dog Walker
by LillyZ
Summary: A dog is a man's best friend, so isn't it natural that dogs would bring people together?
1. prolouge

AN: Hey people… School's finally done (only two more exams to go!) and I have a lot planned for this summer. I hadn't anticipated this story, but it popped in my mind earlier today and ya'll deserve a treat… So here ya go and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer and I do not own any characters or themes associated with the Twilight Saga. I only use her characters and background as base for my foolish imagination and its silly creations

**The Dog Walker-Prolouge**

I was four years old when my mother walked out on us. My brother, Emmett, was eight at the time and knew what had happened. He came to pick me up from day care that day. I was baffled to see him there, but I was glad. I had always adored him and was very proud of my older brother. I remember that he came up to me and picked me up, putting me on his hip. Even then he was strong for his age.

"Hey Belly-Boo," he said as a way of greeting, "Mommy couldn't come and Daddy is busy, so I came instead." I'd laughed at him and hugged him gladly. I had no way of knowing my life would never be the same again.

It took some time for things to sink in, especially for me. It was hard to wrap my head around the idea of never seeing my mother again. She'd always been such a big part of my life, and I loved her so much. I'd called her "Silly Mommy" since she behaved goofily. She was silly and funny and very childish, but I was young and it suited me. She was a kindergarten teacher, and loved working with children very much, and she loved us terribly. Years later, I still couldn't understand why she left. She loved us, her job, and was completely head over heels for my father. And still, she vanished.

The months that came afterwards were dark. Thinking back, they were the saddest part of my childhood. My father loved my mother very dearly and couldn't fathom why she just picked up and left. He became very depressed, and struggled to live normally as he had before. Emmett and I both resembled our mother in a way, and Charlie could not bear to look at us. I know he wanted to, but we were a huge and very painful reminder of the beloved wife he had lost. This worried his friends and raised their concern for our father as well as us. Billy and Sarah Black, who lived down in La Push and had children around our ages, helped Charlie and took us in whenever they could. Harry and Sue Clearwater did the same. It was from the La Push men that Emmett and I heard the tribe's legends and learned of their deep connection to wolves. Sarah had noticed our great fascination with the stories and had an idea that changed our lives yet again.

That same year on Mother's day Sarah was late picking us up from school, but when she came, she was not alone. In a carton box in the backseat of her car, slept a chocolate-colored puppy. She showed him to us and told us he was from the pound and she got him especially for us. We were successfully distracted from the cruelty of the day, and Liam became an inseparable part of our family.

AN: So…what do you think? Please Review! ;P


	2. Chapter 1: First Sight

**AN:** Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed! I am sorry for the delayed update; I had two huge exams this past week and could not get to writing. But fear not! I am finished with school and all that yuck until September, so you'll be seeing loads of me.

Enough rambling… on to the story…

**Disclaimer:** This wonderful universe and its characters belong to the brilliant Stephenie Meyer. I only play around with them… I do own this plot and all dogs involved!

First Sight

In a town where there is a near-constant cover of clouds, and the rain almost never ceases, I was glad for the weather we'd been served with that afternoon. Though the air was humid and walking outside felt like I'd been dunked in the ocean, there was no rain, and the weather was warm for northern Washington.

Forks had always been a small town, making practically everything within walking distance. But the constant presence of mud had proved an obstacle. As the town had grown considerably in the span of few years, the town's council realized paving sidewalks would be a great investment. I was ten at the time and it was wonderful to be able to finally walk around town without constantly worrying about mud every time I walked into a home or some other building.

The sound of barking snapped me out of reveries, and I looked down at the culprit. He sat beside my leg, wagging his tail, his tongue hung outside his mouth, lopsided.

"What is it now, Bolt?" I questioned the dog with a wearied sigh. As wonderful and loyal as he was, the black mixed-race was dumb as a doorknob, and had often had a bout of stupidity right smack in the middle of one of our walks. This, however, never impressed his companions. Loony and Maxi sat and waited patiently, but if they had been human girls, I was sure they'd be rolling their eyes at Bolt.

When he noticed he had my undivided attention, Bolt stood up, and continued to lead us on our way.

The day was no different than any other. I'd gotten up, gone to school, and went to the animal shelter. I'd been working in Fork's animal shelter since I was twelve, and I absolutely loved working with the animals, especially dogs. The shelter in Forks had more dogs than anything, and was absolutely my favorite place in town. Throughout my years volunteering there, I had evolved from a dog owner and lover to a knowledgeable, essential staff member and a qualified and certified dog trainer. There were some other animals at the shelter, of course, but I had naturally gravitated towards the canines and no one could doubt that was where I belong.

As Forks grew, so did the dog population and the workers of the animal shelter had made great effort to expand the shelter and the services it offered. Emmett, my older brother, was so eager to help his baby sister he'd managed to get the entire student body of Forks High (Which was a meager three hundred forty two students at the time) to pitch in and hold fund raisers for us for an entire school year. Two things happened consequently: One, we got enough money to expand the shelter and offer more services like we wanted, and two, I had learned my brother was insanely popular and charismatic.

Now we were able to not only house lost dogs and wandering strays, but also provided a dogs and cats hostel where the owners could leave their dogs when they traveled and not have to worry about them. When there was not enough space (which happened sometimes during vacations when many people travel), the younger employees served as dog or cat sitters and took care of the pets left at home. We had also opened a dog-training program/school. Recognizing the financial opportunity, the town's veterinarian had also moved his practice to one of the adjacent buildings, thus creating an all-you-may-need center for animals.

Over the years that place had become home to me. I spent many hours there with the dogs, became friends with the staff, and absorbed all the knowledge I could about dogs and canines, even going as far as learning German, since it was the international language for dog training.

_This is the last day of summer vacation_, I thought with a sigh. An extraordinary amount of families had gone on vacations during the summer, enjoying the unusually wonderful weather of this summer. I blamed global warming, but was happy for the extra cash, since it helped greatly in paying for the enormous amounts of fuel needed to keep my ancient Chevy truck going. Besides, who was I to complain about extra time with the dogs?

But the end of summer vacation arrived, and the families were all back in town, meaning I was once again on a normal schedule with the regular chores, hence the walk with my favorite companions. Bolt and Maxi were two overly eager, excited, and extraordinarily dumb mixed-race dogs I'd found while on my way home from La Push in the dead of winter. They wandered the road together, obviously prevented from wandering the forest because of the thick snow and their thin coats. I hauled them onto my truck and to the vet's where he treated them for malnourishment and hypothermia. They recovered well and were kept in the shelter. When no one came to claim them they were given up for adoption. Each had received a loving home—on a separate side of town. When their many escape attempts—and successes—turned out to be rendezvouses, it was agreed they would be taken on their daily walks together to prevent any more collateral damage (like doing their business in yards, on sidewalks, and digging holes in yards). Mostly the owners' children did those, but once a week I got to walk them. Bolt and Maxi proved to be incredibly loyal and eternally grateful to me for having saved them, and I loved the silly mutts too much to refuse our weekly meetings.

Our fourth companion for the afternoon was Loony, a charming, lazy Labrador I had fallen in love with years ago. She was the only company to Ms. King, an elderly widow who the years had not been kind to and had trouble caring for her faithful dog. Still, she was not willing to give away her only companion in life. I admired the old lady's love and loyalty so much I helped her voluntarily take care of Luna, walking, feeding, brushing, and giving her baths when needed. Luna proved to be a smart and playful dog, who loved the daily walks despite her being overweight.

We arrived at a park just on the edge of the woods. This place was popular amongst tourists and locals alike, as it provided hiking trails, paved trails, was a great place for jogging, and had a large picnic area with a playground that was every kid's wet dream (literally, with the amount of rain we got, it was wet most of the time). I almost always took the dogs here on our daily walks. Most of the dogs loved the forest and were excited by all the smells and small animals they could play with. Some were trained well enough to be let loose and play around while walking, while others proved more difficult and could only be let loose once we got to the designated, fenced-and-gated dog park.

Such was the case with my lovely trio. While Bolt and Loony completely contradicted their names and were calm enough to be let loose on the trail, Maxi lived up to her name and had to be restrained until we got to the dog park. While the former wandered around and would always come back to their walker, the latter proved flakier and overly energetic. Had it not been for Bolt, we never would have her on the few occasions she escaped. The wild female was balanced out perfectly by her male companion and friend. They had something beautiful between them, and I felt envious for myself when I was with them. I wanted what they had with another human being.

I had it in a way. Emmett has always been my best friend and confidante. He could never fill the missing place of our mother, but he tried his best to be a role model and a support system as much as he could when we were growing up. In a lot of ways he succeeded; I looked up to him and admired him for as long as I can remember and we shared a deep love for each other. There was also Angela Webber, whose father was the town minister and has been my best friend since we were toddlers. She was my "sister from a different mister" for all intents and purposes, and we shared everything. Sleepovers, gossip, and other girly pastimes filled our childhood and later adolescence. These two were my closest friends and supporters. Yet there was a strange void that I couldn't name they could not fill.

After I let Bolt and Loony loose, I walked up the trail to the dog park with Maxi still on her leash, Bolt and Lonny's leashes in my backpack. The trip went well and I enjoyed greatly my time playing with the dogs.

When we made our way back home, however, Bolt suddenly took off like a bullet down the trail. At first I thought he was just chasing a squirrel or rabbit, and felt sorry for the innocent victim though I knew Bolt would not actually harm them. But the barking continued, and as I got closer, I could hear yelling and hissing accompanying it.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath and broke into a sprint. Maxi was right on my heels excitedly, while Loony trudged behind lazily.

I slipped and nearly fell only to be caught by the strong arms of a stranger.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice smooth as honey.

I straightened myself up to answer him, but was rendered speechless when I met his eyes. Two perfect emerald irises gazed into my boring brown ones. He seemed concerned and for a moment that felt kike eternity, I completely forgot absolutely everything.

"Are you alright…?" he asked again, this time his question trailed off, obviously indicating I should tell him my name.

I had to shake the haze from my head to even remember what my own name was, and then stuttered as I introduced myself.

"B-Bella, Bella Swan," I answered his unasked question awkwardly. I shook my head a bit, as if that would help clear away the mesmerizing effect this stranger's eyes had on me.

"I'm Edward Cullen. It's nice to meet you Bella," he introduced and held out his hand for me to shake. I took and was surprised by the strange electrical current that ran through us when our hands touched.

The meeting was interrupted by Bolt, who suddenly appeared out of the bushes with a satisfied grin plastered on his face. He was closely followed by what I could only describe as the most beautiful Siberian Husky I had ever seen.

"Bolt, sehr*!" I commanded. Immediately Bolt came to me and stood by my feet. "Sitzen**!" he obeyed.

I looked back at Edward and was met with an impressed expression.

"I'm sorry about that, he's not usually like this." I shot a reprimanding glare at Bolt. "He's a generally well behaved dog. I apologize if he interrupted your um…"

"Jog, I was jogging," Edward completed. "It's quite alright Bella. We are both to blame here, neither one of our dogs was tied up."

"Oh he's not mine," I hurried to correct. Edward rose a brow so I explained, "I work at the animal shelter; I'm walking him as well as Maxi and Loony here for their owners."

A smile spread on Edward's lips. "Ah, a fellow dog lover."

I grinned.

"Then Bella, Maxi, Loony, let me introduce you to Layla." He shot a calculating look at Bolt. "I suppose you already know her."

It took me a moment to understand the double meaning of his annoyed comment. I blushed when I realized what he meant.

"You don't have to worry about that, he's neutered," I assured.

Edward heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God. The last thing I need now is for my dog to be pregnant on top of everything else going on now."

"I'm not sure they were gone long enough for that," I added after a few moments of silence.

My face heated up as my words sunk in fully, and I noticed a pink tint appearing in Edward's cheeks too. Then we broke into laughter.

Once we calmed down, we stood awkwardly staring at each other.

"You know what? I think I've jogged enough for one day. How 'bout I walk you back to the park's entrance?"

I was grateful that he broke the silence and agreed to his offer. Shy as I was—have always been—we talked all the way back to the playground, chatting casually. I found out Edward had just moved into town with his family the day before. They were from New York originally, but lived in Denali, Alaska for a year before coming to Forks. His parents had had enough of the big city life and looked for something quieter. Denali, however, was too distant and too cold for his mom's taste, so they moved here. We also found out we were the same age and would oth be starting out junior year the next day.

"I have to get home, but I guess I'll see you in school?" Edward concluded as we got back to town.

"Yeah, sure." I was still stunned by this whole encounter.

"Goodbye, then, Bella." He smiled as he waved and went in the opposite direction than mine.

"Goodbye Edward," I whispered and waved him off.

I tied the dogs back up and we returned to the shelter.

**AN:** I started writing this a week ago but no inspiration came… I guess I'm only productive past midnight, then. It's past four in the morning now and Bella and I are off to dream of a certain green-eyed Adonis. I hope this lives up to you expectation… Review please!

*sehr- heel in German

**sitzen- sit in German


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